


Creature Comforts

by Grubbutts



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Fluff and Angst, Happy Ending, Interspecies Relationship(s), M/M, avatar au except not, hanahaki, learning to say the word fuck, light rimming
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-27
Updated: 2018-10-26
Packaged: 2019-08-08 04:51:05
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 14,293
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16422728
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Grubbutts/pseuds/Grubbutts
Summary: Bro's a scientist on his own researching a lush planet full of creatures. But there's one in particular that catches his eye...Who knew that this planet carried a strange disease that hasn't affected the other lonely astronauts... before now.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to my betas and the BroJohn server, bless y'all this was a lot more fun to write with your support ^-^

The station door opens with a hiss, the circular door made of three inches of steel rolls to the side, exposing the outdoors. Everything is foliage and nature here, no metal or carved wood in sight.

That doesn't mean the lack of sentient life.

Dr. Ambrose finishes zipping up his jumpsuit and tucks his inhaler into his pocket, shrugging on his bag as he makes his way out of the lab. The air here is breathable, but just barely. He needs his inhaler to be able to stay out here for extended periods of time. But he doesn't mind.

There's a lot of things he doesn't mind out here, not that he has much of a choice.

He's the only one out here, or more specifically, he's the only human. It's a safe planet, little to no predators to worry about, so one person is enough. 

Though he's certainly not alone.

Bro steps out onto the well worn path, lingering moss lighting up with bioluminescence with each step he takes. He pushes through the plants and foliage, life that doesn't have a name yet, but he otherwise calls it "those glowy ass plants". It's good enough.

Firefly-like bugs flutter around with various colors, trees with swirls of glowing moss light up with the breeze.

It's night time here. Bro prefers being out here at night, but not because it looks cooler.

He travels the same path he's taken many times before, climbing over fallen trees and sliding down muddied hills, following the river towards the watering hole.

He should be here any minute, Bro thinks.

He sits on his usual rock, plopping his bag next to himself and taking out his notebook, as well as his lunch. Freeze dried tacos, his favorite.

Between bites of his taco, Bro takes notes of the scenery. Not much has changed since yesterday, though the small dumbo mice's nest beside the goat rabbits' burrow has gotten bigger. The mice have large ears that cover their bodies when hiding or when they're cold, and the rabbits have horns and give absolutely no fucks.

He keeps an eye on them when he eats here, little fuckers will take his food in a heartbeat. Though it is pretty cute when they try to hop on top of him and flop all over each other.

But he doesn't mind when a certain creature takes his food, in fact he hopes he does.

And there he is.

Bro sees those glowing blue eyes beyond the brush on the far side of the watering hole, staring at him. It's the same ritual every night, though the creature creeps closer and closer to him. For some reason he's skittish of Bro; somehow in a previous experience, this creature has been attacked, given some reason to fear others.

As far as he knows, there’s no other creature here that should be able to do that. 

The creature begins creeping out of the brush, one hand in front of the other, walking on all fours.

He’s the most breathtaking thing Bro’s seen. A cool blue fur covers his body, from his head to his long curling tail. He has a humanoid body, but with long fingers and claws, his back legs like a cat’s with hocks. His facial features are angular, bright blue eyes with black slits, black hair on his head that thins out on a long stripe on his back. White spots freckled all over down the length of his body, and even smaller spots of bioluminescence line his sides and back.

Bro knows he's a he (more or less) by the sheathe between his legs.

He’s been thinking about him a lot.

They go through the same routine; Bro continues eating and taking notes, pretending not to notice the creature as he slowly makes his way to the watering hole, bending down towards the water and lapping it with his bright blue-green tongue. The creature always watches Bro.

Sometimes, in Bro’s head, he refers to him as John Doe, or just John.

He continues pretending not to notice the creature while he stares at him, the creature finishing his drink and slowly making his way around the watering hole towards Bro, never taking his eyes off the human.

As if Bro would want it any other way.

He takes another bite of his taco as the creature, or John, makes his way closer and closer, slowing down as he gets twenty feet away.

Bro sets his taco down next to him on the rock. He's been placing it closer to himself over the past few weeks, and now it's practically touching him.

The creature eyes it warily, pausing for a moment and sniffing the air. He takes a step forward, watching Bro, and another step, one foot in front of the other. His tail swishes back and forth. Slowly the creature makes it all the way up to Bro, sniffing at his jumpsuit and hair.

Bro doesn't move. He never does at this point in the ritual.

John bends down to sniff the food, poking at it, before he decides to put it in his mouth. 

Bro doesn't move. 

John begins to nibble on the food, watching Bro.

Bro doesn't move. 

John cautiously slides next to Bro and sits next to him on the rock, munching on the food. His tail loops around them and rests against the opposite side of Bro.

Bro doesn't even fucking breathe.

John keeps glancing at him nervously, waiting to see if Bro will attack him being this close.

Bro instead slowly and carefully moves his hand to slowly brush his thumb against the tuft of hair at the end of John's tail.

John flinches, but stays put, watching Bro with wide worried eyes.

Bro’s heart is racing harder than the G-forces it took to even get to this planet. His hand moves just a bit more to stroke down John's tail, feeling along the soft blue fur all the way down to the end.

John doesn't move.

This is the farthest they've ever gotten and maybe... will today be the day? Bro hopes so, he hopes that he's gained John's trust, for the scientific discoveries of course. 

He continues petting John's tail, slow and steady, a consistent rhythm, no sudden movements. Bro slowly turns his head to look at John, wondering if eye contact will scare him, or excite him.

It appears to excite him; his eyes widen, the slits of his pupils are blown, and he purrs.

He purrs.

Bro smiles at him softly, continuing to pet John's tail and watching him up close. He can't believe it, all this time, this patience, and finally he's here. Other times, whenever Bro made a move, John would scamper off into the woods.

But now he's here, he's letting himself be pet, and he's purring.

Bro watches John, who watches him, and there's a lot of watching going on between the two of them while John finishes up the taco and tilts his head, his ears twitching.

Bro ceases petting John's tail to slowly turn towards the creature to see him better.

This is apparently the very wrong move to make, because John immediately chuffs and chitters, quickly reaching out to grab Bro’s hand and pulling it close to place it back onto his tail.

Bro laughs and continues petting, "Like that, huh?" he says quietly.

John's eyes blink and widen, his ears perking up and he leans forward, sniffing Bro’s mouth while chittering more in the back of his throat.

"Yeah, I can make noises too." He opens his mouth, which John quickly takes advantage of to peer into, looking curiously at his teeth and feeling along them with a furred claw.

Bro is absolutely delighted and it's hard to breathe from the excitement of it all. 

John then leans back and furrows his brows, now opening his own mouth to reveal sharp, pointed teeth. He points at them insistently. 

"Yeah, those are good teeth ya got there.” Bro cocks an eyebrow and makes a mental note to jot all this down.

John continues to look frustrated and closes his mouth, frowning. He looks Bro up and down and then focuses on the hand petting him, grasping onto it and lifting it again. John pokes at Bro’s fingertips then holds up his own hand, opening and closing it with the same level of insistence.

"Yeah, I got a hand like you, what of it?" Bro still isn't quite getting what John is trying to say, and his confusion must be clear because John growls and snaps at him. Then he tries again, poking Bro’s fingertips again with his claws then holding up his own hand.

"Ohhh, yeah, I don't have claws?" 

John seems to register that Bro understands and sets the human’s hand back on his tail with a smile and a chirp. The little creature begins scanning the area, carefully watching the watering hole and squinting carefully at the other side. He looks like a watchdog.

Ooooh. 

"You know I can handle myself, right? Don't need pointy teeth or claws to fight.” Bro snickers and begins standing up.

John doesn't like that and quickly turns to Bro, trilling and pushing his hands down onto Bro’s legs, lowering him back down to sit. He scoots closer to the human and presses down pointedly on his thighs, staring at him.

"Alright, alright, I'm not going anywhere, okay?" Bro raises his hands in mock surrender and nods.

John squints his eyes and looks at him dubiously, slowly pulling back and releasing his hands off Bro.

He goes back to scanning the scenery, nose twitching while he sniffs the air, ears perking up. He leans out towards the other side of Bro, placing a clawed hand on his thigh while inspecting the rustling bushes.

Bro leans back and smiles at him, reaching out to follow the trail of John's hair down his back, which makes the creature twitch and lightly chirr. John climbs more onto Bro’s lap before decidedly sitting on top, staring out into the woods, his tail wrapped around the human.

Apparently, John has decided that he's going to be Bro’s bodyguard. It's absolutely adorable and though John's not sitting on his chest, Bro has a hard time breathing, trying to be careful.

Oh, wait.

He reaches into his pocket and grabs his inhaler, pressing it against his mouth and, well, inhaling. The noise attracts John's attention and he snatches the device while Bro is still holding his breath, sniffing and investigating the inhaler before declaring it harmless and handing it back to him.

Bro puts it back and chuckles. "You're just so damn cute." He sighs, petting along John's back and scratching behind his ears. John trills and purrs lightly, his tail flicking and wrapping tighter around him as he continues his careful watch.

Bro thinks he might be in love.

Apparently, the inhaler wasn't enough, because Bro’s having a hard time breathing again, enough that he begins coughing. His chest heaves and he brings his fist up to cover his mouth while his lungs throw a hissy fit, coughing and wheezing. It almost feels like he's throwing up, Jesus, does he have a cold or something?

Then he feels something in his mouth, and his coughing slowly subsides. Bro feels it on his tongue, and he reaches in to pluck it out.

A glowing petal?

During all this, Bro hadn't noticed that he had John's full attention, two pretty bright blues staring at him with a frown. The creature’s ears flatten down against his head, and even he can tell that the small chitter he makes is sad.

John takes the petal from Bro, then looks up at him. It almost looks like John’s about to cry.

"What is it? Is it poisonous or something?" Bro’s a little startled by the change, not to mention that he hacked up a petal. This is definitely going in his notes, perhaps he waited too long to use the inhaler? It could be spores in the air, perhaps in this area in particular. But where do the spores-

Bro’s thoughts are interrupted as John bows his head and bumps it against Bro’s chest, pressing against him and softly continuing his sad churring.

"Hey... hey, easy there, bud. I'm alright." Bro laughs a bit and pats John's back.

He doesn't get it.

John sits up and looks at Bro, tilting his head. Then he straightens it and huffs, as if he's decided something, and he begins climbing on top of Bro’s shoulders.

"Wait, what, hey, you're big, you can’t just fuckin’ climb on me." Bro tries to swat John off, but the little blue creature snaps at him and takes Bro’s hand into his mouth, giving him a little warning nibble as he settles onto Bro’s shoulders. John's looped around Bro’s neck, partially on top of his head too, his long tail wrapped around Bro’s torso.

Well, it looks like John's coming back with Bro then.

"Okay big guy, you wanna make a home up there? That's cool.” He slowly stands up, taking a minute to find his balance and begins trekking back to the lab with John settling on top of him, mouthing at his ear and neck.

Bro doesn't mind one bit.

He can't believe how lucky he is, this is a find of the decade. John is the only creature of his kind that Bro has seen, and from the way he behaves, it seems like there's a reason for it. Perhaps his kind simply went extinct, or was hunted by something else, a virus maybe? It'll take some research, but if that means spending more time with John then it'll be so worth it.

John currently has other priorities at the moment, which is to explore Bro’s ear with his tongue, and not in the sexy way. It's downright invasive, crossing beyond the wet willy line. Bro swats at him again, “Stop that, my ear isn't for licking. At least not right now.”

John retaliates by biting onto Bro’s hand again, this time just holding it in his mouth, “Yeah, okay, that's fine, whatever.” Though if Bro’s honest, it's more than fine. He doesn't know what exactly it is that draws him to John, chalking it up to scientific discovery, or the fact that he's all alone on this planet.

Love? Who is she?

They make their way back to the lab and John perks up, chittering curiously with Bro’s hand in his mouth. He tilts his head and pushes himself up, kneading his claws on Bro’s shoulder.

“Easy there bud, it'll be alright. Not as many plants, but I'll introduce you to the wonders of pillows.” Bro chuckles. The air should be fine for John, he thinks, but he'll have to keep tabs on him to make sure. Bro presses in the code for the door and it hisses open.

John hisses back at it.

Bro walks them into the small ventilation chamber and the door shuts behind them. John swiftly hops down from his shoulders onto the ground, his nails clacking on the metal floor, which seems to surprise him as he trots around and whaps at the floor as if it had offended him. Then the chamber does its job of ventilating the air and adjusting it for reentry back into the lab. John starts chattering and trilling, hopping around and scratching at the lab side door. 

He then turns to Bro as he's unzipping his jump suit and pounces up, looking at him with wide eyes and kneading his chest. Bro laughs and pets John's head, “It's alright bud, it gets bigger, don’t worry.”

John is still concerned but he hops back down, trotting around Bro in circles while the room finishes adjusting. The lab door chimes and opens, revealing the cylindrical, wide, white lab with plants along the walls and computers beeping and whirring. Wires track everywhere, retrofitted IBM PCs line the desks with a wall full of blinking lights and cassette tapes littered around. There are small offshoots to the side, with smaller rooms for sleeping and storage and supplies. The low hum of Eurythmics plays throughout.

John quickly shoots off and scampers around the place, sniffing and tracking something Bro doesn't know. He lets the creature do his thing while he hangs up his jumpsuit, leaving him in his T-shirt and boxers, sliding on slippers he wears around the lab and his lab coat.

Aka, the fuzzy pink robe he ties around his waist. He picks up his aviator frame glasses and slides them on his face as he sits at his desk, beginning to type away his notes and findings while keeping an eye on John.

John seems to be frantically searching for something; plants? Food? Bro wonders what he wants.

Bro types away for a bit, recording his research on the black screen with its green blinking text. It takes a little while, clacking away on the beige mechanical keyboard that echoes John's claws as he trots and scampers around the place, sniffing the air and pawing at various things.

Bro finishes up his notes and sighs, pushing away from his his desk and looking around for John. John notices and trots on back, trilling at Bro and tilting his head. “What's up dude, find what you were lookin’ for?”

John huffs and furrows his brows, heading over towards the entrance to grab the two jumpsuits that hang there and bringing them over. John plops them down in front of Bro and pushes the one he just used towards him, then pokes at the other one while tilting his head and churring.

Damn, he's smart as hell, little dude. What else can he figure out? “Yeah they're both mine, just in case one gets fucked up I have another.”

John keeps poking at it insistently, then scampers around the lab before returning to Bro with the same curious look. “I'm the only one here, John. Just me.”

John slowly approaches closer to Bro and sits in front of him. “Just me.” Bro points to his own chest, then around the whole lab.

John looks a little confused at first, tilting his head side to side, squinting at Bro and leaning forward to sniff him. Then he shoots back, his ears alert and eyes wide, sitting up straight with little chitters.

“What is it bud-” Bro begins coughing again, his chest feeling full once more, his lungs desperately trying to breathe, but it's like he's drowning. His eyes gloss up and he turns towards his desk, hacking and coughing and wheezing. It persists for a minute or five, Bro can't tell, but it ends with a fully bloomed, glowing flower fluttering from his lips into his hand. 

Fascinating.

John scoots closer and climbs partially onto Bro’s lap, his front paws on his knees and sniffing at the flower. Bro lets him, watching John's reaction to it.

He wonders if it's supposed to be some aphrodisiac type of substance because John soon flattens his ears down his head and a dark blue blush covers his face. He coos softly and pokes at Bro’s chest, looking at him and poking. Then he pokes his own furry chest.

“Do you cough up flowers too? Is this a normal thing for your planet?” Bro puts the flower down, setting it aside to look further into it later. First a petal, now a flower, does this progress to worse? Where does it even come from? Is there something growing in his chest? Why?

John slowly moves closer to Bro, sniffing his face, before tentatively licking his cheek. He then blushes even deeper and swiftly hops off of Bro, scampering off to the other side of the room to paw at some dirty clothes. He keeps glancing Bro’s way and flushing as he does.

Weird. Curious and weird and beautiful. It makes Bro sigh and smile. What a cool dude.

He turns back to his computer and finishes typing up reports and inputting information, John isn't the only thing he's paid attention to. He jots down notes about the rabbits and mice that seem to have been getting closer over time, flowers blooming more, having been grown around their nest. Fireflies turning to warmer colors when they're around them, seemingly comfortable and pleased to be in their presence. A strange phenomenon to see in bugs, yet interesting and intriguing as even when they're around Bro they turn red and orange and various purples. 

John continues to paw at various items in the room, glancing at Bro and making small quiet coos to himself. Something about it warms Bro’s chest, making him feel heavier, it's almost physical.

He finishes his reports for the day and takes his glasses off, massaging the bridge of his nose before heading towards his makeshift kitchen. John perks up at the movement and carefully watches Bro go towards the water tank and filter. He slowly moves closer towards the human, peering over and sniffing the air, ears up and forward.

Bro notices and laughs, grabbing two glasses of water and nodding towards his bed, “Come on. I'm gonna rest for a bit, wanna join?”

John is amazingly intelligent, because he seems to be beginning to understand what Bro says as he nods and trots over towards the bed. He turns in circles and fusses with the blankets and pillows until he finds it suitable enough to curl up and lie down. Bro follows him, but instead makes the common sense decision to just plop down on the damn thing with no fuss before passing a glass of water to John. The creature tries to press the glass against his mouth, sticking his bright blue tongue in to try and lick it up.

Bro laughs and shakes his head. “John, John, hey, John, look.” He grabs John's attention and holds his own glass up. “Like this,” he says and presses it against his lips, tilting back and gulping the water down. John watches and tries to do the same, pressing the glass against his lips and tilting all the way back so water splashes on his face. But he gets a decent amount in his mouth and swallows it down, looking to Bro with wide eyes while his face drips.

“Close enough, John.” He chuckles and takes the glasses, setting them both down and then lies back across the bed. John shifts himself a little closer and chitters, then it becomes louder and louder, his chitters almost deafening and he opens his mouth wide. Bro cocks an eyebrow. “The fuck-”

“Jjjjj, Jooowwwwn, owwwwwnnjj, Joowwnn, Jowhn, J-j-oohhnn. Johhnn?” He tilts his head and perks his ears, tail lightly flicking curled around his body.

Bro’s own eyes are pretty wide, watching John as he fucking _speaks _, “Holy fuck. Yeah, John, that's you.”__

__John pokes at himself, “John?”_ _

__Bro nods._ _

__“John!” He then reaches a claw out and pokes at Bro’s chest, creasing his brow. “Fffffuuuk, fffuck, fuck. Fuck?”_ _

__Bro bursts out laughing and shakes his head, “No, I'm no-”_ _

__Apparently, his laughing was exciting to John as he pounces on Bro’s chest and chatters a laugh along the human’s. “Fuck!! Fuck, fuck, fuck!”_ _

__It's all fun and games with uproarious laughter until Bro starts coughing again, chest wheezing and throat scratching. John stops his chattering and pouncing, ears flattening and he sniffs and paws at Bro’s chest. A few petals fall from Bro’s lips, along with a drop of blood. “Shit…”_ _

__“Fuck?”_ _

__Bro huffs and smiles a bit. “Yeah… fuck.”_ _

__John lies down with the front half of his body on Bro’s chest, and he stares at the human intently, watching and listening to him breathe. He makes small whimpers and whines, licking at Bro’s chin and mouth._ _

__Bro laughs and gently pushes John away. “Easy there, I'm fine, don't worry,” he says foolishly. John huffs and scoots himself closer to Bro’s face, resting his head on his shoulder and knocking cheeks together. He purrs and clicks, his tail wraps over Bro's waist and lays heavier against him._ _

__“Yeah… let's take a nap, bud.”_ _

__Bro settles in a bit more with John resting on top of him, and he places a hand along the creatures back. He brushes along the blue fur across John's back, petting and stroking him while John purrs. It's so incredibly comforting, Bro’s chest aching, but it feels like it might be okay. John's warm and soft and the rumbling of his purrs is pretty damn cute._ _

__It doesn't take long for him to fall asleep._ _

__The drifting haze of Bro’s dreams bring something pleasant. A bright blue swirl dances among the flickering blacks and greens, yellow flutters up above. Colors mix and move through the dream, sifting and melding; but the blue stays the same. The blue gets larger, or maybe it's coming closer, closer and closer until-_ _

__Bro makes out with the blue. It's wet and sloppy and he feels like he's getting covered in wet spit but somehow it's everything he's ever wanted. Well, almost. The blue somehow isn't ready for it. But Bro enjoys the messy licking and macking all the same._ _

__And then he wakes up._ _

__His eyes slowly open to see John's cheerful face licking across his nose and cheeks. Bro snorts and gently pushes John away, having now forgotten his dream more or less, “Alright alright, good to see you too,” he chortles. John deems Bro being awake as satisfactory and hops off the bed, giving Bro the opportunity to sit up and yawn and stretch himself out. His stomach growls a bit, and his gives it a little pat._ _

__John trots over towards the door, and Bro startles at the sound of his claws scratching against metal. He walks over to see John pawing at the entrance, flicking his tail and looking at Bro expectantly._ _

__“Oh damn, do… you need to go to the bathroom or whatever? Shit should I potty train you? I honestly have no clue whether that would be weird or not. Would it? How do you even- no, no I'm not thinking about that I-”_ _

__“Fuuuuuuuck!” John mewls._ _

__“Yes yes, fuck, I got it,” Bro laughs and walks over to drop his robe, putting on his jumpsuit and his boots. He grabs a notepad too, might as well take some notes while he's out there, then he opens the doors._ _

__There's something familiar about the way John bolts immediately into the woods in a blur of blue. Damn he must have really needed to go. Bro begins strolling along his usual path, pausing to take notes of plants and bugs along the way. From what he can tell through the canopy of trees, the sun should be rising soon._ _

__He doesn't stray far from the lab which seems to be a good decision as John finds his way back, happily clicking and churring, carrying a rabbit-like animal in his mouth. John approaches Bro and drops the rabbit at his feet, then sits down, looking up and smiling wildly._ _

__Bro blinks a few times and tucks his note and into a pocket, staring at the rabbit. “Well,” he starts to say, “thanks, I guess.” He laughs a little and reaches down to pet and comb his fingers through the tuft of fur on John's head. “You can have all of it though, I got my own food. Come on,” he nods back towards the lab doors and John picks the rabbit back up, following behind._ _

__They go through the process of entering into the lab again, and the doors open. Bro strips from his jumpsuit and heads into his little kitchen while John follows along the way. He takes a paper plate and sets on the counter before turning towards the cabinets, rifling through the various packets of instant freeze dried food. “Hmm, what should I eat, John, more tacos? Maybe some mashed potatoes. Watching that shit come to life is magical,” he says while grabbing the packet and turning back to the counter._ _

__The rabbit is on the plate now, and John looks up at him expectantly._ _

__“Thank you very much John, I appreciate the gift but I can't eat exactly eat that, alright?” He takes the rabbit and slowly hands it back to John, who frowns at him and makes a loud barking noise. “I can't eat it bud, it's all yours, have a feast,” Bro insists, pushing the rabbit against John's mouth who keeps his lips shut tight and refuses to take it. “John…” Bro warns._ _

__John paws the rabbit down and frowns at Bro, “Fuck…” he warns._ _

__Bro rolls his eyes and drops the rabbit onto the floor then turns back to prepare his human food that humans eat specifically human astronaut scientists. “It's Bro by the way. Me, Bro, Broooo,” he points to himself, glancing at John who tilts his head and perks his ears. “Bro, can you say that? I'm Bro,” he points to himself again._ _

__“Brrrrrrrrrow, Brrroooooow, Brrr, owa, Brow?”_ _

__“Eh close enough, better than fuck,” he says while placing his food in the microwave and turning on the timer._ _

__It doesn't take very long for his food to finish up in the microwave and Bro takes it out, walking over towards his bed and grabbing a few pillows before plopping down on the floor. John picks up the rabbit and follows once again, carefully lying down next to Bro and begins to slowly tear into it. Bro sighs while taking a bite of his food, he'll probably have to clean up the mess later. Oh well, at least John's some cozy company._ _

__That is until Bro starts coughing again. Some of his mashed potatoes spills from his lips and he has to set it down on the ground while he coughs and hacks. This time it's so much worse than before, sickeningly worse. Petals flow from his lips like a tree in fall, puffing out in bursts and gently swaying down to the ground. Bro’s eyes water and his chest aches, a migraine pounds through his head and spears down his spine. He doesn't even realize that John is trying to climb onto his lap and headbutt his chest, he just keeps coughing and coughing. God, is he dying? It's so hard to breath with all of these petals but he's coughing so at least he's getting some air. Fuck how long as he been coughing, his arms feel weak and heavy and-_ _

__It stops. Suddenly no more petals. He can breathe._ _

__Bro let's his head fall back as he takes deep wheezing breaths, yet it feels like there's still something deep in his chest. He blinks his eyes open and feels something soft there. So he looks down to see John settled on his lap, frowning at Bro’s chest, specifically a small lump there. Bro pulls at the collar to look down._ _

__There's a glowing flower sprouting from his chest, blooming brightly. The skin around it has begun to turn a mottled red-orange._ _

__He swallows thickly and slowly takes his shirt off, tossing it to the side and carefully takes a trembling finger, poking at it. The flower doesn't hurt, but jesus christ there's a _flower_ growing out of his _chest_. _ _

__John looks up at him like he's about to cry, whining in the back of his throat and eyes already watering. Bro’s never been good at empathy, but it's hard not to get teary eyed himself at a face like that. He reaches out to brush a hand along John's arm, “Do you know what's going on? Am… I gonna be okay?”_ _

__The creatures ears droop and he looks at the flower, leaning in close, and he gently licks the changed skin. Bro doesn't know what the fuck to take away from this but as intrigued as he is by the weirdness of it, he's scared. He wraps his arms around John who makes a small surprised yelp, and pulls him close._ _

__Bro Strider is scared, and he thinks he might die alone as he holds John close to him who's cuddled onto his lap, providing a comforting warmth. Little does he know, John is scared of the same thing. Together, they're scared that Bro might die alone. Together. The two of them. Cuddled together._ _

__They both cry a little._ _

__Bro pushes John away a little and huffs, “I'll be fine, it's just some stupid alien disease or whatever the fuck that's making a flower sprout from my chest jesus christ,” he shakes his head, “I've suffered worse. After all astronaut training wasn't a walk in the park,” he says, trying to put back his usual cool guy facade. John still looks vaguely depressed but nods, settling himself on Bro’s lap and reaching out for the rabbit as he continues to eat._ _

__Bro reaches for his own food, beginning to eat again but lost in thought. None of the other scientists that have been here ever recorded such a thing. There is plenty of plant life of course but this is unprecedented. What makes him different? It's not that he's been forgetting to use his inhaler or anything, he's taken every necessary precaution. It'll take some time and testing._ _

__And he absolutely cannot contact Houston. Sure it'll be a week before they get a message but they'll want him to come back asap. No, he's going to stay and figure this out, it's not like it would be much different dying alone on Earth than it would here. He at least expected to have some time to find someone first. Or for Dave to forgive him._ _

__Thank god John is here._ _


	2. Chapter 2

They finish up their food and John hops off Bro’s lap, padding away after him as he gets up and disposes of his plate. The rest of the day is simple and succinct; Bro and John hang around the lab, doing work, exploring, a simple reflective quietness resting between the two of them. But both of them know that things will be different now.

Bro goes to bed as the sun shines in the air, John laying down beside him and nuzzling him close as he sleeps against him comfortably. They seem to fit naturally together, put together like two ironic puzzle pieces, feeling safe.

The next night they wake up, and Bro has sprouted a second flower from his chest. But otherwise nothing has changed, they find themselves slipping into an easy rhythm with each other, copying the previous night. They wake up, they head on out for a while, they eat, they come back, work and rest, eat and work, rest again. All throughout the day Bro coughs more petals, though he thinks he's getting the hang of it. It's a little hard to handle and a little hard to breathe but otherwise it's a simple matter of timing and having water on hand to drink. John is still worried about him, sticking close and watching him continuously. He licks the orange tinting his skin, sniffing at the flowers, nuzzling against him softly. He's even taken to climbing onto Bro's lap while he works, cozening on up and purring lightly while Bro does his research and types up his reports.

Bro's usual job is typically to catalog and take notes of the local fauna and foliage, as well as test various plants from Earth to grow in these conditions. But he's here all alone for such a long time that he inevitably finds other experiments to do.

Especially on himself.

The next time a third flower grows from his chest, and he's beginning to suspect that this is going to be a regular thing, one flower a day apparently. Luckily his cough is about the same, awful and annoying but the same, it's something he can at least expect and navigate around. He spends the night this time dragging out older equipment from the lab storage, an x-ray, electrocardiogram, gathering it with other medical equipment he uses to give himself physicals and checkups.

He finds that his blood pressure is normal right now, if not a little high, his heartbeat is average, but what's most troubling is the x-ray. He puts on the lead vest and makes sure John stays back, who's confused but listens. The machine does it's job and prints out the scan which Bro puts up against one of the lights.

There's a bouquet in his lungs. It shouldn't be possible and yet there it is. Bro puts a hand to his chest now with four flowers sprouting from his…lungs. He quickly grabs a stethoscope and places it against his chest and plugs it in his ears, taking deep breaths and closing his eyes, hearing every beat and every inhale and exhale through those flowers inside him.

It's… normal. Which is highly anticlimactic in Bro's opinion, and yet also surprising. There would definitely be some sort of difference especially if your lungs are fucking full of flowers but apparently not.

John gets antsy and pesters Bro for attention and to run around outside the lab so he follows along, glad to have the little guy here to keep him company right now with this weird alien bullshit. Well, it's also nice to have him nearby in general. He walks with John back to their usual meeting place by the watering hole, getting his lunch out and watching the animals scamper along while munching on his food. It reminds him of times when… he would take Dave to the playground. He used to know what to do when it came to that kid, he's not sure how he changed exactly to fuck up as bad as he did.

Bro thinks that Dave would like John if they ever meet. But Dave hasn't been interested in talking to Bro in over a decade, living his best life in Hollywood with Bro put into the past. It's for the best, Bro supposes.

John playfully runs and chases after the various rabbits and bugs flying around, leaping and pouncing. Bro can tell that this is something more fun rather than to hunt for these little guys, catching them and letting them run off, sneaking up and battling at some of their fuzzy tails. Occasionally he trots on up to Bro to check on him, pats at the six flowers on his chest, lick, and goes back to playing and drinking some water. This is the most John has ever done around the watering hole, at least in Bro's presence. Is this something he used to do all the time or does he perhaps feel more safe with Bro around.

Should he?

Bro continues to eat his lunch and take notes around the area, examining leaves and shedding fur, peering into the murky water to see small bio-luminescent schools of fish swimming around smoothly. He pauses to cough a few times, petals fluttering from his mouth much more gracefully than he coughs or than he feels. Each time he gets a little teary eyed and his face turns red, chest aching like he can feel the flowers spearing through him and filling him up, impossible as it is, it's what happens. Perhaps there's some element to these flowers that allows him to breathe, like overly oxygenated water that you can breathe through. 

He decides it's time to go back to the lab to figure this out and do more testing, he needs to get to the bottom of this, why the hell is it happening? What caused it? "C'mon John let's go," he says, packing what's left of his lunch and standing up, taking a few steps back towards the lab.

John isn't following.

Bro turns back and looks at him, "Yo, John, come on," he insists. 

John continues to lie on his back, swatting at a fluttering bug and he isn't fucking coming at Bro's call what the fuck.

"John!!" Bro roars.

John leaps into the air and stares wide-eyed at Bro.

Fuck, fuck fuck he didn't mean to yell like that it's no big deal, John's just having fun. "I'm sorry, that was shitty of me. I'm going back now, you can come along if you want," he says, a little tired as he makes his way back. John carefully follows behind, ears drooped low and watching Bro, but he sticks close. "Sorry lil man," he says what feels like the thousandth time in his life, "Won't happen again."

They go back to the lab to relax from the morning ventures, Bro sitting down at his computer with nine flowers sprouting from his chest while John prowls around. He's become more at home here, familiar with the various pieces of equipment, the way things work here, the smell, the food. The familiar rhythm between him and Bro. Every day relaxing on his lap, eating with him, sleeping with him. It's comfortable, yet they can feel that there's something missing.

But twelve flowers later the schedule becomes a little more disrupted. Time spent outside begins to wane, time spent inside increases. More x-rays, more graphing, recording. It's not a problem by Bro's standards, he's coughing a little more, more petals, his chest aches more. And the tint of orange has spread.

It covers his chest now. His skin orange while fourteen flowers sprout across his chest. But it's not a problem. He'll figure this out. He doesn't notice when John stops laying on his lap.

Bro eats his lunch at the computer, recording the latest progress of his research on himself, counting out each and every petal expelled from his mouth and looking at it under a microscope. John wanders around the lab, bored with nobody to play with. He paws at Bro's leg, "Bro play?" he asks. During the course of the past seventeen days Bro has taught him a few more words, he learns fast.

"Sorry John, maybe later," he says through a bite of his half-assed instant oatmeal. John whines and walks away, another thing he's grown used to recently. Bro types away his findings, how the petals lack any chlorophyll yet their chemical structures reveal something far more interesting and aggressive, yet something he's never seen before. It's like navigating a dark room with his hands tied behind his back. But he'll figure it out someday. He scratches at the twentieth flower on his chest, it's beginning to itch.

John begins to make his own entertainment, sniffing around at different things, opening cabinets to see what's inside, pawing at it. He's knocked around a few containers, but no major damage. He even plays around with the cables for the x-ray machine and the computers, though Bro always yells at him for it. 

Bro coughs up a particularly large pile of petals now, maintaining a bare chest now with twenty-four flowers sprouting from his body. A shirt is far too uncomfortable at the moment. He focuses on each and every one of them, tearing some apart, putting them under slides. The biology of the flowers has been changing, from something more rose petal like to something sharper. They become a deeper blue color, while his skin become a brighter orange, now spreading onto his arms.

The wall of monitors and buttons blinks brightly not unlike the bugs that flutter outside. John sits and watches them for a while, following the tapes moving along and the lights blinking. 

The twenty-fifth flower sprouts on Bro's shoulder, and John leaps.

He jumps at the walls of buttons and scratches at the doors, opening them up to reveal the tapes whirring inside. John bats at them, causing them to fly off the reels and spill across the floor. He's absolutely delighted by this as he jumps around and toys with it, tearing some to shreds and biting at it. He rolls around the floor tugging and playing with it, having the best time of his life in the past two weeks. But then he leaps into the air and an ice cold shiver runs down his back.

"What, the fuck, John!" Bro stands up fast enough that his chair falls to the side, eyes wide, chest heaving with heavy breaths. He grits his teeth and he's absolutely seething, clenching his fists. "Are you fucking kidding me John? Are you fucking brain dead?" he swiftly moves around his desk to approach John who whimpers and crouches, stepping back and cowering from Bro's towering figure. "That's my fucking research, my fucking life's work and you just tore it to pieces. Fuck, I'm going to have to pieces this all together again. I can't fucking believe you John, I can't fucking believe you."

Johns ears and flat against his head and he whines high, tail between his legs, eyes shining with the threat of tears. 

He looks pathetic.

He looks... scared. Scared of... Bro.

"Shit," Bro sighs and releases the tension he didn't realize was built in his shoulders, his chest aching more than it was ever been, and for the first time, a second flower in the day sprouts from his mottled orange skin. He looks at John, looking smaller than he has ever looked before, and absolutely terrified as if they were back to the first day they met. What has he done?

"I'm sorry John," he pinches his nose and squeezes his eyes shut for a moment, "I'm sorry I didn't mean, I didn't mean to lash out like that. I don't know what the fuck that was," he drops his hand and looks at John who looks just as petrified as he did before. Bro drops to his knees in front of John and slowly reaches out to touch John's face, and he flinches.

Dave used to do that too. 

Bro settles in on the floor more, the glossiness of John's eyes infectious as his own vision blurs with tears. Biology decides that this is not enough tears as another flower filled coughing fit arrives. He wheezes and harshly coughs, going blind momentarily from the tears and the migraine that pulses in his head and down his body. The flowers piercing his skin feel like hot burning iron, and each petal that bursts from his throat feels like little razors and knives despite the fact that there's no blood.

And then it stops. He takes deep breaths and blinks his eyes a few times, panting hard as his vision slowly seeps in. John is close again, half on Bro's lap and sniffing him as a few tears fall down his cheek. He shouldn't be crying, though maybe that's just Bro's blurry vision.  
No, that's just him crying too. This is far too familiar for Bro's comfort.

"I'm sorry John, I'm so sorry I promise I won't do it again," he quickly reaches out and wraps his arms around John, pulling him close for a tight embrace. John stiffens at first but then settles onto Bro's lap, sniffling and crying alongside the human, pressing his paws on his shoulders and climbing closer while pulling in closer down Bro's back. 

Bro thought he had figured this shit out already, but clearly not given what just happened. He's fucked up big time before, and he's glad it didn't get so bad this time, but that was horrifying to see himself become like that again, to see the look of fear in the eyes of someone important to him, that he caused.

"I'll do better John, alright? I'll do better," he promises, sniffling and pulling back to look at him. "It's just a few shitty tapes, nothing I can't figure out again. In fact I've been meaning to reorganize my data and shit so you did me a favor," he reaches out to ruffle at Johns hair who chitters and blinks at him. "Come on, help me clean this up?" 

John nods and they slowly get off the floor, picking up the mess John made while falling back into that cheerful friendly banter and moving smoothly around each other. It's barely been a month and somehow it feels nostalgic. 

They sleep soundly that day together, warm and cozy next to each other. Bro wakes up with two flowers sprouting from him the next night, but his coughs stay the same for at least a small while. He makes an effort to set his studying to the side for John, it gets better and works for a little while, until it doesn't.

Bro talks to John more, smiles more, makes a conscious effort to spend more time with him, teach him more words. They spend a longer time outdoors, and Bro even gets some of the other creatures to warm up to him. The goat rabbits are particularly interested in the thirty-six flowers sprouting from his bare chest and shoulders, and sometimes try to nibble on them. Unlike before, the flowers on Bro's body have begun to be more sensitive, not in a way that hurts but he can feel when whiskers graze along his petals. He foregoes wearing his jumpsuit nowadays, or even a shirt, allowing his flowers to breathe without the uncomfortable feeling of being constrained by cloth. The fireflies seem to like this as they land on him occasionally, turning him into a walking rave show. John likes it too, and they sit side by side together to watch the pretty bugs land on Bro and rest.

They've become a lot closer since Bro's outburst. John has taken to sticking by Bro's side, to which Bro makes an effort to cozy on up to him and pet him and kiss him. But John maintains a wary eye on Bro, still keeping his distance and napping whenever Bro works on experimenting on himself. He's tries to pull a flower out for the hell of it to see if he can, which in turn triggers a migraine and a coughing fit. 

But they itch sometimes. 

He types away about his forty-fourth flower that has sprouted with his claws, hands now orange too and the keratin in his fingernails has thickened and sharpened somewhat. He's more focused on the cause of all this rather than the potential results, too terrified to think about possibly dying, and doesn't care that his chest hair has thickened. John has decided that whenever Bro's working, it's nap time for him, preferring not to risk another explosion from Bro, which Bro doesn't mind. He can focus better on his work so really it's a win/win. 

He scratches at the flowers on his shoulder. 

Forty-eight and they lie in a patch of thick grass, staring up at all the fireflies while the goat rabbits hop around them. One of the little creatures approaches Bro, sniffling at some of his flowers before finding one it likes, and tugging at it. The goat rabbit tugs and tugs, and Bro yells out in anger, swatting the creature away. 

While researching his fifty-sixth flower, he scratches at the one that was tugged.

He sleeps with John in his arms, resting on his chest, which is typically a comfort, but not with the nightmare Bro has. He dreams of back on Earth, a memory, strifing, swords clashing and screeching against each other, the edge of the roof. No one falls but there's a lot of blood; Bro smiles, Dave cries. He'll get used to it, he has to be strong. Bro loves him. 

Bro turns orange, covered in flowers as they strife, and he fights and he fights and he fights. He doesn't realize he's been tearing up the same lifeless body for an hour. He screams.

John jumps back as Bro sits up quickly, panting heavily, clutching onto John to ground himself. He looks at his hands, now claws, his orange skin, the flowers. He looks at John, but he doesn't look scared. 

He just looks sad. 

John climbs back onto Bro's lap and licks his face, gently pushing him back down to the bed and nuzzling against him. "Sleep, Bro safe," he says. 

Bro swallows thickly and nods, "But are you safe?"

"John safe," he almost answers it a little too quickly for Bro's comfort, but he'll take his word for it. He trusts him. A lot more than he knew he could but somehow with John it all seems natural and organic. But he's tired, so he holds onto John tightly and falls back asleep.

The flowers itch.

Bro takes to John about his dreams, about his history with Dave, about how he misses him but he's doing great for himself so Bro won't get in the middle of that like he's done so many times before. He considers sending Dave a message, a simple hi, but he never does. 

The flowers begin to lightly burn, and he writes his notes about it while eating a cooked rabbit. Somehow they're easier to chew than Bro thought. He scratches at one of the flowers, and the burning and itching increases, so he scratches harder and harder. If his claws pierce skin, he doesn't notice. Finally he decides to fuck it and pulls at the flower.

The migraine hits and pierces through his body, down his spine and into each and every flower, he coughs up piles and piles of petals while blinding scratching and pulling at the flowers. He thinks he's gotten some of them out but it's truly hard to think like this, too loud, too bright, everything hurts, and he can't breathe. Flowers join petals on the ground and blood runs down Bro's back. 

The migraine fades away when Bro runs out of energy, his arms heavy and sore hanging limply at his sides, panting heavy breathes. Twelve flowers lie on the floor along with the petals, and his shoulders are covered in red. John cautiously approaches him with a towel to press against his back, which Bro gratefully and tiredly takes to help soak up the blood from the gashes he's scores across where the flowers once were. "Thanks," he whispers, throat too raw to say anything else. John licks him and sits next to him while Bro cleans himself up and proceeds to take a nap. 

He didn't realize that throughout the attack, he had scattered all of his papers everywhere and shattered the screen to his terminal. 

 

Bro puts bandages on his shoulders and lets them heal for a little while. His fits of coughing make them sting and ache as with every movement of his arms, but John keeps a close on him. He makes sure to give Bro plenty of cuddles and nuzzles and affection, though sometimes Bro believes it to be forced. 

The days become harder to deal with, sleeping is a chore, and not nearly as enjoyable as it really should be. Bro begins waking up in the middle of the day in a cold sweat, the bandages beginning to peel off some. John always settles him back down with comforting licks and nuzzles.

Sixty-six flowers and Bro wakes up twice in a night, the scabs on his skin bleeding. 

Seventy-eight and Bro swears off sleeping. He has the same nightmare every night, though Dave and John change and so does the scenery. But it always ends the same; Bro tearing them apart. 

John tries to convince him to sleep more but Bro won't have any of it. He looks to John with bags under his eyes, eyebrows furrowed as he pets John with a weak hand. "Sorry bud, I just can't do it. You go on without me, I'll watch over you okay?"

"Okay," John slumps and flattens his ears, hopping up to give Bro a lick before getting down and turning around a few times to settle down into the makeshift bed he made himself next to Bro's desk. Bro gets back to work, pulling all dayers for a while.

But at eighty-eight flowers it gets to be too much.

Bro slumps over his desk with a sigh, blinking his bleary eyes. He feels hot and cold at the same time, and he's not sure whether his toes are actually orange or if that's just sleep deprivation. Staying up for so long and enduring intense fits of coughing so many flowers, resisting the urge to claw at himself again as hard as he can; it takes a toll. 

"Fuck," he manages to sigh as the migraine splits his head open once again and the coughing starts. It's hard to keep his mind straight when these happen, easier to just let his body do its thing while he's blind and too weak to control it.

The coughing passes, and Bro realizes that he was not the one he should be worried about scratching. 

His vision clears to see another broken monitor, a few torn tapes, and a deep gash bleeding across John's cheek. 

"Oh fuck oh fuck, John," Bro quickly gets up to go get the bandage supplies, "Fuck you know you can't be near me when these attacks happen, fuck," he stomps on over to John and plops down, reaching over to clean the wound and bandage him back up.

"Stop flinching, I'm helping you," Bro gruffs, tugging on Johns hair to get him closer and placing the bandage across his cheek. "There, you're good."

"Bro, sleep," John says.

"Bro doesn't fucking need-"

"Bro sleep!" John huffs and stands up on his two back legs, growling and snarling at Bro, ears down and his tail flicking back and forth. His cheeks wet with tears and he's trembling. 

"Oh fuck off, you're overreacting. I'm fine John, don't fuckin' worry about me," Bro stands up and stretches, though he loses his balance as he does and stumbles a few steps. 

"Sleep," John demands and pushes Bro's chest, forcing him towards the bed. "Now."

"Fuck off," Bro grumbles, swatting John's hand away yet he still falls over into the bed and in three seconds he's fast asleep. John curls up in his bed by the desk and sleeps separately from Bro for the first time. 

It's a slippery slope from there. Outdoor time shortens, and John makes sure to keep away from Bro during his attacks. They fall into the familiar pattern of quietness, Bro obsessing over himself and his apparent illness. The tufts of hair on his chest and joints, the flowers blooming across his body, thicker skin, fangs, claws. His veins are thick and hard, he can't feel his heartbeat anymore without advanced equipment. What the fuck is wrong with him.

It's a question many have asked before, but this may be the first that he thinks of it himself. 

One hundred flowers. One hundred flowers is how many it takes for everything to come crashing down. 

The usual nightmare comes in with John. And just like before they strife and they fight, Bro with his claws and John with his. It's an intense fight, with vivid colors and strong emotions. He hurts and he's pissed and he's hot but he fights and he fights. He scratches John, once, twice, three times. Across his back and his chest. Bro grins, showing off his pointy pearly whites. John cries and rushes to the lab door, scratching at it and crying. Bro rolls his eyes and opens it for him, and John sprints out.

He only realizes that it wasn't a nightmare an hour later. 

It feels as though this is the first time he's seeing clearly in weeks. The lab is in disarray, papers and equipment torn and scattered everywhere, never cleaned up. Blood from his own and John's wounds stain the floor, along with petals and torn flowers. A pile of bones stacked in the corner from their shared meals of rabbits and duck and other species of native fauna. The freeze dried food hasn't been touched in quite some time. 

And he hurt John.

He really fucking hurt John.

John should be able to take it though, he needs to be tough and strong. Screw him for running from a few cuts like that.

No, no! What the fuck?

He needs to find John, kick some sense into him. No fuck that he needs to find John and apologize to him. 

Bro runs out of the lab door in his usual simple sweatpants, scratching at himself and sniffing out to follow John's tracks. Fire and ice, air and rock, his body courses and turmoils with opposing forces from head to toe. Hatred and fury, love and caring, human and alien, night and day. His heart races fast, his wood thick veins pulse, flowers grow. He snarls and his feet his the dirt ground following a path he's never been on before.

He doesn't care so much about himself for once right now though, regardless of what polarization he feels; he has to find John.

Bro runs fast, whipping through the bushes and trees. The scientist's mind barely being put to use as he runs on pure instinct alone, following branches John has torn, his scent against the ground, drops of blood. The urge to fight and the urge to comfort both equally roar in his body, a turmoil of his thoughts. 

But the closer he gets to John the fuzzier it gets. Lines blur and flowers grow across his arms, claws sharpening, hair softer. He doesn't cough while he runs, but he can feel the flowers in his lungs, building and coiling around each other, filling his chest with an aching pain as he pants out of breathe.

But he still continues to run.

Why? Why run after John? Who is John to him anyway? A project? An experiment? a pet? A friend?

Perhaps something more.

...If only. 

The woods get thicker, the trees more twisted and writhing, flowers grow in abundance. his breath comes out in sore pants and his legs weaken but he can feel himself getting close. Something inside him pulling him this way towards John, through the thick wild trees.

And then he sees blue. 

The woods clear ever so slightly, a few small scattered trees spread but get closer and more clumped towards a larger thicker tree. Bro slows down and walks through the crowd of trees, they almost seem close to him in height. He approaches towards the larger tree in the middle where John sits, back facing Bro, his shoulders slumped. "John," Bro calls out.

John doesn't turn around.

"John Come the fuck on I-" he pauses, freezing in place as he really gets a look at the large tree. It... actually looks more like many smaller trees collected and grown together into a larger tree. And it's covered in scars of scratch marks. Bro takes a step back and looks at the other trees, and he almost jumps thinking that one of them was a person.

He takes a closer look.

It's a decent sized tree with a thick trunk and two large branches, one smaller yet thicker branch on top. Leaves and flowers cover along the bark, the ones closer to the large tree more thicker and covered in more flowers than the ones further away. Bro looks to the tree next to it, and it's the same but in a different position. Another, the same. And another, the same. All of them have two main branches with flowers similar to Bro's. 

These, they look like, "John..." Bro takes a careful step towards John, still breathing heavily from running, his mind a fog of he doesn't know what. John seems like the only thing that's clear. "John is this, am I...?"

"Family," John finally says, standing up and turning towards Bro. The cuts and gashes are beginning to scab over, but the bright rad blares out at Bro like an air horn, and it hurts to think that he did that. "My family."

Bro looks around at the humanoid looking trees before turning back to John. He wants to finish the job, he wants to heal him. It hurts. 

"You are family too," John sniffles and takes his own cautious careful steps towards Bro. "You want to be more family than Dave, or my family, you want..." He furrows his brows and looks away, "Bro... fuck." 

Bro is familiar with the sudden shock of his migraines, and this one hits him in a similar way. But he's not coughing, he's not blind, his ears aren't ringing. Simply his chest is pierced with the realization and he crumbles to the ground on his knees. His hands landing in the grass as he tries to catch his breath. 

"You love me," John says softly, getting closer to Bro, closer than they truly have been in weeks. "You hurt me," he sits in front of Bro who clutches onto the flowers on his chest, gasping and wheezing for air. Maybe he is going blind, somehow things look... paler. "My family hurt me too."

Bro blinks his eyes up at John, his feet turning numb and his legs asleep, the formication across his skin blazing up to his eyes. He's dying, isn't he? "I'm sorry John," he breathes out, "I'm sorry," fuck this is just like Dave isn't it? 

John lifts a clawed hand, and slaps Bro across the face. "You should be. I trusted you," he huffs.   
"Fuck," he wheezes, anger flaring a fiery heat through his veins, but quickly cools with the mirrored anger in John's face. "I know," Bro coughs and a puff of petals flow out, his knees are jelly. "I've fucked up. Story of my life," he coughs a few more times with a self deprecating smile. The edges of his vision begin to darken. "John..." he coughs and wheezes a few more puffs of petals, "I need help."

John blinks, then barks a chattering laugh, "Obvious!" He shakes his head and looks to Bro, truly look at him.

"I love you John," it's the first time he's realized this, and it feels like he's tearing the bouquet straight from his lungs. "For once in my life," he coughs more petals, and the only thing he can see is John. His fingers numb. "I want to do something right."

John looks to Bro, eyes grazing across the flowers, the wood in his veins, how he only barely looks human anymore. He looks to the remnants of his family, the battlegrounds full of wooden corpses blooming beautifully of the life they once had. He hates this place, hates what it reminds him of, and it was nice to stay with Bro away from here. 

But... "You are asshole, idiot, mean," He says, growling and pushing at Bro's shoulder, "You hurt, you hate, you make me bleed," he huffs and digs his claws into the ground. Bro coughs and wheezes, hunched over and desperately, weakly, reaching out towards John. 

And John takes his hand, and he sighs. "You are kind, you care, you love, you are funny, smart, beautiful," Bro's coughing slows and he blinks his eyes up at John, tears streaked across his face. "You are soft, you are fun, you are family." He takes a few breaths and scoots closer to Bro, giving his hands a squeeze. 

"Do you swear not to hurt me, and to listen to me?" John asks.

"No shit, I mean maybe there might be fights I don't know about- FUCK!" John squeezes his hand even tighter and claws scratch skin, Bro coughs another puff of petals. 

"Do. You. Swear."

Bro's shoulders are tingling and his cheeks feel numb, all he can feel is John’s hand against his, and all he can see id the outline of his face. He feels like he's breathing through a straw, and he feels dizzy. But by god he will not die without making it up to John. He's screwed up the one other important relationship in his life with his brother, he can't die screwing up the other.

"I swear, I fuckin... swear... John..." he breathes slower and lighter and weakly. His body feels somewhere else. He's tired. "I love you."

All that exists are John's lips finally on Bro's, and then he sees black.


	3. Chapter 3

There are no dreams, only darkness and warmth, which really feels like the two shouldn't be mixing so well but it does. Bro floats in the space of his mind, no thoughts to think, nothing to do, just rest. He's going to need it. 

Soft hands brush along his arms and chest, his neck and cheeks. Something even softer on his lips. Someone takes his hand and gently guides him out of the darkness, letting it fade away into the background as his eyes blink open to see the white of the lab ceiling. And John, hovering over him. "Finally awake," he says softly, giving Bro's nose a lick.

Bro hums and smiles, attempting to sit up but quickly falls back on the bed with a groan. Did a rocket hit him? Everything is sore and heavy and no amount of intense weight training compares to how this feels. John helps him sit up anyway, sitting behind him and supporting him. "What happened?" his voice is hoarse and cracked.

"You.. scream. Really loud, it was awful. Then you fall over, it was hi-hiill-hilarious," John chatters a laugh and licks and kisses Bro's cheeks.

Bro thinks back to it all, how people had turned to trees, how he was turning into one and oh shit is he a tree now? 

He looks down at his body and sighs. His skin still a thick mottled orange, fingers turned to claws, fur on his chest and elbows. But the flowers are still there, though thicker and less spread out. A bushel sprouts beautifully from his chest and wraps around his neck like a collar, a few on his shoulders. He licks his teeth to find he still has fangs, reaches up to feel his soft hair. 

"How long was I out?" he grumbles.

"Many nights," John gets up a bit and climbs onto Bros lap, tilting his head. "How do you feel?"

Bro blinks a few times and smirks, placing a hand on Johns cheek and gently strokes his fur with his thumb, "I am now," he chuckles. 

John rolls his eyes, pushing Bro's hand to the side and gently pushes him back down on the bed. "So cheesy," he says through a toothy smile, shaking his head. Once Bro has lied down, John settles on his chest, nuzzling up under his neck. "You are idiot."

"I know" Bro lifts a hand and pets along John's back. "I ain't getting sick again, am I?"

John shakes his head, "I love you."

Bro's eyes blink wide and he pauses for a moment, "Wait... say that again?"

John lifts his head and perks his ears, "I love you?"

Bro's flowers glow brighter and his chest fills with warmth that spreads down his claws, something settling deeply inside him and he's pretty sure he's smiling like a doof. He leans in to kiss John quickly before petting John's back again.

John laughs and shakes his head, "You will also be good to me," he states. Bro feels a fang of guilt and looks away, "And you will be nice, no fight, no scratch, no asshole-"

"Well I mean, maybe a little asshole?" Bro grins wildly and winks. John bats at his nose and snorts. 

"Idiot."

"Mhmm," Bro kisses him again and sighs, "But yes, yes I will be good I swear to fuck. And you have my full permission to give my ass a good kicking if I fuck up. Deal?"

"Deal. Now feed me," John smiles and gives Bro a kiss before hopping off the bed, grabbing his hand and pulling him up.

 

Bro manages to stand up, stretching out his arms and legs with a groan. His whole body is sore and hard to move, as if he were made of, well, steel or something. But after a few stumbling steps, he manages to walk over towards his pile of clothes and put some sweatpants on before opening the door outside. He doesn't remember when he stopped needing his inhaler, but it had been left to the side for quite some time now. Along with his notes and things.

Instead of scampering off like John typically does, he walks alongside Bro, giving him glances every few steps. Bro's steps start of slow and sluggish as he gets his bearings again, as well as appreciating the ability to breathe so easily now. Like anytime you're sick, you only appreciate just how easy it is and how good it feels to go back to normal. Though in Bro's case he's almost normal. 

His sense of smell has still been dramatically improved, and he uses it now along with John to sniff out any possibilities of food nearby to track down. 

"Found it," John freezes in place and sniffs at the air, staring intently in front of them. He then turns to look up at Bro and a wide grin spreads across his face, flashing sharp teeth that now mirror Bro's. "Race?"

Bro smirks back and an excitement brilliantly boils in his chest along with a pleased growl, "You've already lost lil man," he laughs before bolting into the treeline. 

He's had plenty of strifes and training before to be used to pushing himself past soreness and work hard. Except he still has yet to beat John in a race. John can out sprint anything any day, not to mention he knows the ins and outs of these woods. He knows the prime hunting spots, that one hidden log Bro always seems to trip over, where bugs plants their webs. 

They run and speed through the bushes and trees, and of course John overtakes Bro in the race, zooming past in a blur of blue. Bro tries to flash step to catch up but there's only so many you can do before slamming yourself face first into a tree. 

He gets up and keeps running in Johns direction before finally finding him laying down with two bright pheasants lying beside him, and of course he has a rather smug grin plastered on his face. Bro rolls his eyes and plops himself down on the grass beside John, "Alright alright, you win, you get the biggest one," he huffs, grabbing at the smaller one. John places a hand over top that one though, and gives Bro a pointed stare. "What?"

"Manners."

Bro scoffs, "Manners? You gonna try putting some manners on me-"

John pulls the pheasant towards himself and growls, "Manners, Bro. You said you would be nice."

"You're kidding."

"Manners. Or no food."

Bro looks at John, eyebrows low and eyes dull with an impudent and irrational rage stirring inside as he sarcastically drawls, "Yeah yeah, thank you John."

John's growls get louder and he pushes both birds to the side, getting up and pushing at Bro's chest, "Bro..." he warns. 

Bro, feeling a spark of that lingering anger that has been simmering constantly over the past few weeks. "What." 

John pushes Bro down to lay on the grass, his tail flicking back and forth as he snarls ever so slightly. "Manners, Bro. You need to be nice."

There's something about having a claw pressed against the flowers on his chest, buried deep within the petals coating him, that changes the nature of the heat inside him. It shifts from anger to something a little more... primal. "Oh do I?" he answers back, his own frown perking up to an almost lascivious smirk. 

John seems to catch onto this and climbs on top of Bro, placing both hands on his chest and cocking a brow while straddling him. "Do you need me to teach you?" he licks his fangs. Bro can't resist letting his hands slide up John's thighs and to his hips, thumbing at the bone hidden beneath muscle and fur. "You need to be put in your place, Bro," Johns tail flicks and he lightly kneads at Bro's chest. 

He ruffles and tugs lightly at the flowers there, still sensitive but in a different way from before. A sensation stringing along Bro's back and blooming through his chest, down to his crotch and he lets out a keening whine from the back of his throat. John's ears flick and he leans down to purr close to Bro's face, "You agree?"

Bro's face heats with an embarrassment and arousal that flushes through his skin, making him a bright red as he nods, "I agree, I agree very much," he clears his throat and his hands trail up John's sides. He presses his palms against his shoulder blades and lightly pulls him closer until their lips press against one another. 

There's something so right about kissing John, something that settles a fire, calms a storm, keeps him warm, makes him feel safe. Something that makes the flowers bloom brighter from him and his mind clear. John's more rough tongue slides against his own, first tentatively and shy despite his words, but Bro eggs him on with soft moans and a firmer pull. The fire is stoked until they're both hungry and kissing harshly, grinding against each other. Bro's quickly getting harder, and he can feel a warm slickness pressed against him growing and thickening; John's getting aroused as well.

Bro's hands go back down John's back and towards his ass where he grasps on and squeezes, drawing out a growl from the creature. His tail whips side to side and his fangs begin brushing along Bro's tongue and lips, and Bro wants him to go harder, so he bites. John retaliates with his own bites and nips, growling and panting and rutting against Bro.

"Fuck John I need," Bro gasps out, "C'mon John fuck me."

John freezes and pulls away with wide eyes and perked ears, a smile growing on his face, "Fuck?" He points at Bro's chest and snickers, "Fuck fuck?"

Bro snorts and rolls his eyes, "Yes fuck, this is what fuck means. Fuck me, John. Put your alien dick in my ass right the fuck now."

John snickers and leans down to press a kiss at the base of Bro's throat, "Maybe," he teases, hands dragging down Bro's chest to his pants, tugging at them down, "If you sound pretty enough." He pulls away and scoots off of Bro to shuck Bro's pants off his body and toss them to the side where they won't be in the way at all ever and where they should stay. Bro shivers as he's exposed to the grass against his bare skin, his cock laying hard and thick against his stomach already drooling with pre. 

He gets a good look at John's now, kneeling between his legs and smirking smugly at the human. He's seen it a few times before, but never quite like this in this context. It's exposed from his sheath, blue like his skin and fur though wet and naturally dripping with genetic fluid. It tapers towards the end with intricate ridges along the sides, thicker in the middle, and looking rather weighty.

Bro has spent a lot of time thinking about John's dick. 

He spreads his legs wider for John and wiggles his eyebrows up and down for him, "C'mon John, deflower me. This ass is yours, gonna show me my place right? Get that bright blue dick in- oh fuck-" 

John bends down licking a stripe up Bro's cock, watching him closely, "Keep talking," he says as he pulls away. His hands slide along the outside of Bro's thighs and down below, lifting them. 

"Keep talking? Well shit John I've said a lot of things in my time but I'm not sure there's much else I can say besides- oh sweet jesus."

John pushes Bros legs upwards, allowing his knees to hook over his shoulders. He leans down to lick between Bro's now spread cheeks, tongue dragging along his skin from his puckered hole to the base of his balls hanging plump. John chuckles some more while licking and lapping at Bro, causing him to curse and stammer more than any well-endowed twink ever has. 

"Fuck John, god, just fuck me already- jesus- dick in my ass that's all of my-cocksucking- life goals right now. All of my work to get two PhD's was just for this moment-ffffuck!" John found a particularly sensitive spot.

"Fuck?" John smirks.

"Yes fuck, fuck fuck fuck, all the fuck, fuck me John. You, me, fuck. Let's go," Bro's cock is a ruddy red and throbbing thick with want. "...Please John."

"Good!" Apparently that's all John wanted because he puts Bro's legs back down and pushes him onto his belly. He handles Bro as if he weighs only half his size, getting him to stick his ass out into the air and lean onto his elbows. John then presses his hips against Bro's ass, his cock sliding between both cheeks rubbing his slick against Bro's skin, bending over and pressing his chest against his back. 

Bro press back against him, turning his head to kiss John as they link their hands together against the flowers on Bro's chest. They stay linked both with their lips and their hands as John slowly slides himself in. Bro's breath comes out shuddered and shivers spread across his body, moaning into Johns mouth as he's stretched and filled. John definitely has one of the nicest cocks that have ever been in him.

Once they part from the kiss, they smile softly at one another, until John's grows to show off his fangs and he growls playfully, easing Bro down. And then he pulls out and slams hard into him.

"Fuck!" Bro jolts and clutches onto the grass, mouth open and gasping, blinking his eyes as John does it again. And again. It's not a surprise to describe John's fucking style as "animalistic" but by god Bro didn't know the true meaning of that word until now. 

John's bent over him, holding him close as he hammers his hips into Bro over and over, growling and licking and nipping at Bro's neck. Bro can't do much other than hold on for dear life but that is absolutely not a problem from him. His toes curl and his cock bounces neglected beneath him, and he moans loud enough for the whole damn planet to hear. Probably even NASA can hear him too but who cares he's getting the ass fucking of a lifetime. 

He pants out heavily and grins and moans while his body heats and twitches from head to toe, John holding him close and sure he could say it's romantic to be able to feel just how hard John's heart is beating from their bodies pressed together, but the throbbing blue alien cock rawing him and pounding into him like a jackhammer is taking over his entire being. 

And just when Bro thought John's cock couldn't get any better, he starts to feel something even thicker pressing up against him, attempting to make its way inside; a knot. "Oh fuck John, knot me baby, I need this I need it bad, fuck."

"I know you do," John gasps and purrs, "Too arr-arrogant," he stammers out while thrusting harder and harder until-

"Fuck!" Bro cries out once again with his creative and original sexy phrase as John's knot pops inside and ties the two together with a mutual groan and whine. John uselessly thrusts and humps into Bro's ass, unable to pull out or move much beyond chasing his finish. Bro writhes and moans beneath him, reaching down to stroke himself. With one simple touch to his cock he whimpers, over-sensitive from not having been touched until this moment. John clutches on even tighter, growling before biting down on Bro's shoulder enough to draw blood.

Bro cums first, eyes rolling to the back of his head as his body bolts with heat, flourishing through every inch of his veins before going numb. His cock pulses and shoots out, coating the ground beneath him with cum. His quivering and quaking body clenches around John, making him follow soon after with a whine against Bro's skin, pumping his load deep inside Bro and filling him up. 

They stay there kneeling together, panting and twitching and coming back to their senses. Then they slump over and fall to their sides, John wrapping his arm around Bro's waist and cuddling against him. He unlatches from his shoulder, licking at the wound from their mating, his chest rumbling like a low thunder.

His knot still firmly inside Bro who leans against John with a soft smile, catching his breath and sighing. They're hands stay linked, brushing against the flowers from Bro's chest. It's soft and warm here, the pain from John's bite aches but it's far from unpleasant. He feels... good. And he realizes he hasn't genuinely felt good in a long long time. 

All his life he's been a massive screw up unable to stop himself from fucking up everything around him. But here, now, with John; hell maybe it's the oxytocin flooding his body but he feels like for once there's hope for him. "John..." 

"Yeah?" John purrs, licking and nuzzling at Bro's neck.

"Think I'm a good person?"

"Nope," John licks and purrs and holds on tighter while Bro grumbles, "But you could be."

Bro huffs a soft laugh and turns his head to give John one short kiss, "I'll take it. Let's clean up and take a nap, alright?"

John murmurs and tries to pull out but, he can't. His knot is still fully inflated, tied together as he hides his face in Bro's back, "Maybe clean later..."

Bro snorts and snuggles back against John and sighs, "Sounds good to me. Nap now?"

John nods and kisses his shoulder.

"Nap now."

And they do.


End file.
